Monthly Archives: March 2017

Being a blonde hairstylist with ADHD, I can get bored with my hair really fast! I need change often and change can be expensive and damaging when it comes to your hair! I try as best as I can to take care of it and keep it healthy. Washing it only once a week, and doing deep conditioners every other week. When I was at a hair appointment last summer, my stylist told me about a brand of shampoo called Pure Blends by American Culture Hair, you can use the shampoo to help either maintain colors, enhance colors, or use it to temporarily stain your hair. This immediately got my attention. It’s hard to go back and forth with most fashion colors which are semi-permanent, you use a lot of bleach and it can take a lot of time. I decided to try it out and I loved the results! The color mixtures I used came out vibrant and the fade is always a new shade. I would get excited to shampoo my hair because that meant it would be a different color when I was done.

The first trial I did was with the red shampoo on dry hair for 20 minutes. It came out to a soft pink and stayed vibrant until my next shampoo, then it turned into a rose blonde with my next wash, and by the third wash, it was almost all gone. Since I only wash my hair once a week, this color was the perfect amount of time to try something out without getting bored.

Next, I wanted to try purple which I loved so much because it faded into a silver. I re-did this color probably 3-4 times because I loved it so much! With the balayage/root-look being in-style, I was about to go a few months without getting my roots touched up. The purple/silver hair off-set the fact that I had 4 months of grown out roots. Saved me money and I got to change my hair color all at home!

Throughout the process of using this shampoo, I had been posting a ton on Instagam and making sure to tag American Culture Hair in the process. A few months passed and a representative of American Culture Hair contacted me about a blogging opportunity. She sent me a few products to test out and that’s where I am at today.

Today, I used the Pure Blends Temped Pink Conditioner. I applied it to my prelightened hair and let it sit for 20 minutes. Viola! My hot pink barbie dreams came to life!

This is an awesome product to try out if you want a fun change! It’s also amazing to help maintain your natural colors and enhance the vibrancy of your hair. All of the shampoos are sulfate and sodium chloride free. They also smell like candy so it gives your nose a nice little treat when washing. If interested in trying out the conditioners, you can use my discount code to save 25% XTINA25 at their website. (Conditioners only) the price is not bad at all and you’ll get free shipping over $46!

Six years ago today, I met my husband. Although I knew from the first encounter that I’d one day marry the crap out of Joel, the feeling was, in no way whatsoever, mutual. In the beginning, I was in the friend zone…

Chicago, 2011- LOOK AT THAT “GET OFF ME” BODY LANGUAGE

It’s no secret that Joel took his sweet time escalating our relationship (read more about that here), and I’m really not complaining because, duh, we’re married now…. But that year and a half spent in relationship limbo when he “didn’t want to put a label on us” was a pain in my 21 year old ass. I spent who knows how many nights contemplating never texting him again, but I always gave in because when you love someone, you bombard them with calls and text messages so they know you mean business.

The same thing happened with Christina and her husband, Brandon. She was friend zoned for over a year and now they have two kids. Come to think of it, my ridiculously good looking sister-in-law, Laura, was ‘zoned by her husband, Todd, for like 5 years. I guess what I’m getting at is: it’s possible to leave the friend zone and find yourself in Love Town? Loveville? RelationCity? This post is dedicated to any sad sap who finds him/herself in the same situation, you can persevere! You can be more than “just friends”.

It’s hard to believe Brandon and I will be approaching our 6 year anniversary this Sunday. I can’t imagine what those years would have looked like without him. His patience and humbleness continue to blow me away. His ability to stay calm through the phone calls about my speeding tickets, or how I again, didn’t manage to clean the house even though I was home all day with the kids… well there is your answer, with the kids. I mean it when I say we were made for each other, I don’t think there is anyone else out there in the world that would be able to put up with me and my crazy weird self.

A few weeks ago, we went up to Austin, TX and had a hunt for any “love” themed wall murals. We didn’t make it to all of them before the sun went down but the ones we were able to grab were perfect. This makes for a fun double date, by the end you have a full, satisfied belly (because Austin has amazing food at every corner), and pictures for days!

One thing we didn’t know before visiting was how hard the photos would be to take! We are about 2-3 feet above the sidewalk on a narrow upper walkway. Also, this is directly in front of a parking lot which was completely full because the next-door neighbor was Emo’s (music venue) and there was a show about to happen that day so it was packed. My friend had to climb on some cars to take these, thankfully we didn’t tick off anyone. IT’S FOR THE BLOG.

Ask me about my melons. This photo wasn’t taken on the same day as the others. I was at this wall with Sarah and we got stopped to be in a collab video (watch it here, and a small clip here) interview with The American Heart Association and Subway, they just asked us about our favorite fruits and veggies and if we ate them on a regular basis. Of course we do! We love our fruits and veggies!

I really do.

That concludes my Love Tour of Austin. If you’re interested in planning a date hopefully this guide will help direct you. My husband tried to line up the order from the furthest north down to south since that’s how we would be coming home.

Every blogger on the face of this earth has some sort of blogging equation + schedule that they follow, you know, on their blogs. Whether it’s 3 detailed DIY posts everyday teaching readers how to make or bake something, or a post every now and then about what they wore to the last party they attended, everybody in blogland is doing something. On the off chance that I mention this blog to someone I don’t know very well, the inevitable first question they ask is “what is your blog about?” to which I answer “absolutely nothing, but somehow everything.” It’s a Catch 22 blog.

If you’re new visiting our “little corner” (ugh, gag) of the Internet, here is what you can expect from the Sarah half of That’s What She Said:

Today my daughter turns 3 years old and we celebrated by taking a hill country drive to Floresville, TX on Sunday. The day couldn’t have been more perfect! Clear skies, 75-degree weather, and surprisingly, no traffic for the last day of Spring Break. This wasn’t just any normal drive, we were heading to a party fit for a princess.

My daughter was born 3 years ago and we made the awesome decision to name her Charlotte. We didn’t name her after anyone in particular, I’ve just always loved the name and thought it was beautiful. One year and about a month later, The Princess Charlotte of Cambridge was born. I always like to joke around and say that Kate and William called me up before she was born and asked us what would be a good name for their baby. Naturally, I suggested the best name out there, no big deal. But since then, I feel like we’ve had to up our game with party planning since most of Charlotte’s friends refer to her as “the princess”.

Charlotte asked for a unicorn themed party this year with ponies and carriage rides and that’s exactly what she got. My old neighbors live on a ranch with miniature ponies and horses so they offered to host the party, we were very blessed to have that opportunity. I whipped out my old cake skills and made a unicorn pull-apart cupcake cake. I was lazy and just bought a box of funfetti cake mix but I did follow the original icing recipe and it did not disappoint. I think I might do cupcake cakes from here on out. You can make pretty much any shape you want in hardly any time! It was super easy and no knives were needed. To wash it all down, we had some refreshingly sweet unicorn punch!

All the kids had a great time and stayed entertained with the pony rides and carriage rides. There was even a 2-hour old baby goat, no seriously, 2 hours old! (rejected by the mother) that was taken in from the owners and the kids fell in love. Overall, everyone had an amazing time and we’re all still talking about it. Perfectly fit for a princess.

An alternate title to this post is: How To Decorate For A Party So Well That Nobody Notices When You Leave Said Party To Hide In Your Room To Read… Because The Decorations Look That Good.

With the exceptions of our annual 4th Of Juluau and Halloween parties, our hosted social functions mostly consist of spur of the moment shindigs involving a lot of running around and throwing stuff together at the last minute. Okay, wait, no… that’s how we throw all of our parties, even the ones we’ve been mentally planning for months. Maybe that’s how everyone throws a party? Procrastination is somewhat of an art in this house, and I’ve got my last minute party decoration set up down to a science. As you may or may not know, it’s pretty easy to break the bank when you’re setting up for a grand event, but I’ve come up with some surefire cheapskate ways to decorate that will save dough and wow your guests. Plus, they’re easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Exhibit A: the gender reveal party we threw for some of our best friends who are expecting their first baby. I was elated at the chance to get to put this soiree together because it combines so many things that I love: Babies! Booze! The colors blue and pink and yellow! Pregnant friends! Secrets! Guessing games! Secrets Revealed!

I set this all up in the span of 2 hours, then I had to stand back and applaud myself because everything looked so cute.

TIPS FOR GOOD/INEXPENSIVE PARTY DECOR:

get creative with balloons and streamers! cover a wall with streamers or balloons and you have a great photo back drop to impress all of your friends on Instagram.

two words: Candy Tray. two more words: Make One

THROW CONFETTI EVERYWHERE, WORRY ABOUT CLEAN UP AFTER.

spray paint is your best friend! (I spray painted our recycled Topo Chico bottles and some old vases different shades of blues and pinks and can always repaint them for future events)

use paint samples from the hardware store to make triangular, colorful garland.

make a signature drink with whatever is in your liquor cabinet.

match La Croix boxes and cheap candles to the color scheme.

don’t tell spray paint, but food coloring is also your best friend (dye the shit out of some ice cubes)

keep whatever decorations you can salvage because you can reuse more than you realize.

Okay now that I’ve listed some of the ways I decorate for a party, I don’t sound like such a lazy gal after all. Effort or not, my favorite part of any party we throw is the part where I can sit back, drink a beer, and let everyone thank me for putting it together. YOU’RE SO WELCOME!

Have you ever felt the need to ingest some magic into your belly? Now you can with this guilt-free SNACK!
I pulled the original recipe from glow by pop sugar. Since trying the original, I’ve made my own revisions that I personally think make it taste a little sweeter. It’s completely sugar-free but is naturally sweet to enjoy.